Appeal against Single Judge order dismissing writ petitions for exemption from Earnest Money Deposit under public procurement rules. Court held rule applicable only to government departments and PSUs, not construction contracts, and dismissed appeals.
No exemption from Earnest Money Deposit granted; appeals dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 5TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2019
PRESENT
THE HON’BLE MR.ABHAY S. OKA, CHIEF JUSTICE
AND
THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE MOHAMMAD NAWAZ
WRIT APPEAL NOS.1535-1536 OF 2019 AND WRIT APPEAL NOS.1528-1534 OF 2019 (GM-TEN)
IN W.A.NOS.1535-1536 OF 2019
BETWEEN:
SRI K.B.SOMASHEKHAR S/O SRI K.B.BETTASWAMY AGED ABOUT 36 YEARS R/A KANTANAHALLI VILLAGE TURUVEKERE POST YADIYUR HOBLI KUNIGAL TALUK-572134
... APPELLANT
(BY SHRI C.R. GOPALASWAMY, ADVOCATE)
AND:
NIYAMITA LIMITED HEMAVATHI CANAL CIRCLE TURUVEKERE TUMKUR DISTRICT-572227
... RESPONDENTS ---
THESE WRIT APPEALS ARE FILED UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE KARNATAKA HIGH COURT ACT, 1961, PRAYING TO SET ASIDE THE IMPUGNED ORDER PASSED BY THE LEARNED SINGLE JUDGE OF THIS HON'BLE COURT DATED 16/04/2019 VIDE W.P.NOS.7472-7473/2019 [GM-TEN] CONSEQUENTLY ALLOW THE WRIT PETITIONS AS PRAYED FOR.
IN W.A. NOS.1528-1534 OF 2019
BETWEEN:
SRI SRIKANTAIAH M.N. S/O SRI NANJUNDAIAH AGED ABOUT 53 YEARS R/AT MADAKEHALLI VILLAGE KOTHAGERE HOBLI KUNIGAL TALUK-572130
... APPELLANT
(BY SHRI C.R. GOPALASWAMY, ADVOCATE)
AND:
(THIS RESPONDENT HAS BEEN DELETED AS PER THE ORDER DATED 10/04/2019)
AGED ABOUT 35 YEARS, R/O BUKKASAGARA HUTRIDURGA HOBLI KUNIGAL TALUK-572130
... RESPONDENTS
THESE WRIT APPEALS ARE FILED UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE KARNATAKA HIGH COURT ACT, 1961, PRAYING TO SET ASIDE THE IMPUGNED ORDER PASSED BY THE LEARNED SINGLE JUDGE OF THIS HON'BLE COURT, DATED 16/04/2019 VIDE W.P. NOS.7455-7459 & 7954-7955/2019 [GM-TEN] CONSEQUENTLY ALLOW THE WRIT PETITIONS AS PRAYED FOR.
THESE APPEALS COMING ON FOR ORDERS THIS DAY, CHIEF JUSTICE DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
JUDGMENT
Heard the learned counsel appearing for the appellants.
by the second respondent for construction work / civil work. The contention of the appellants / writ petitioners before the learned Single Judge was that in view of sub-rule (5) of Rule 26 of the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Rules, 2005 (for short ‘the said Rules of 2005’), the appellants are entitled to exemption from payment of the Earnest Money
Deposit. The learned Single Judge while rejecting the petitions quoted sub-rule (5) of Rule 26 of the said Rules 2005 and observed that the exemption is applicable to micro and small enterprises registered with National Small Industries Corporation Limited (NSIC) only in relation to purchases by all the Government Departments and the State owned public sector undertakings. After observing that the tender is regarding construction work, the learned Single Judge held that as the appellants did not deposit the Earnest Money Deposit along with the tender document, the tenders have been rightly rejected.
“ 26(5) : Micro and Small Enterprises registered with NSIC under a single point vendor registration scheme, shall be facilitated by providing tenders sets free of costs, exempting from payment of Earnest Money Deposit during purchases by all Government Department and State owned PSUs.”
(underline supplied)
The pending interlocutory applications do not survive for consideration and are disposed of.
Sd/-
CHIEF JUSTICE
Sd/JUDGE
AHB
3 issues framed by the court
Whether exemption from Earnest Money Deposit under Rule 26(5) applies to construction tenders issued by Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Niyamita Limited?
Whether reliance on an NSIC certificate entitles appellants to exemption from Earnest Money Deposit in private undertaking tenders?
Whether non-application of argued grounds of discrimination warrants quashing of lower court order?
2 provisions across 2 enactments
SRI K.B.SOMASHEKHAR
SRI SRIKANTAIAH M.N.
THE MANAGING DIRECTOR CAUVERY NEERAVARI NIGAMA NIYAMITA LIMITED
THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER CAUVERY NEERAVARI NIGAMA NIYAMITA LIMITED
THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER CAUVERY NEERAVARI NIGAMA
THE CHIEF ENGINEER CAUVERY NEERAVARI NIGAMA NIYAMITA LIMITED
ABHAY S. OKA
MOHAMMAD NAWAZ
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
